Wide Awake: Part 1
''Wide Awake ''is the first chapter of Season 1 of Lavender and first overall in the series. It is set to premiere on February 17, 2013. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950807528/chapter-1-3-release-date-announced Summary The seemingly perfect little town island of Ravenled holds more than its fair share of people. However, with the murder of George Frost, the previous mayor of the town and the disappearance of 16 year old adopted daughter Sydney Lavender, everyone's darkest hours begin to unravel. A whole month later, Sydney Lavendar wakes up with no memories of her past or herself after her month long disappearance. She sets out to discover the truth of on what happened that night with her visions, but she begins getting messages from "A" - an anonymous person who knows about everything. Synopsis Chapter Content Entire chapter content is contained here - SPOILERS AHEAD Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them -work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. Not every story has to be a happy story. Not every ending has to be a happy ending. They say every story has its happy endings but this one does not. Sounds a little bit familiar? Real life is the same; the end doesn't necessarily have to be happy. It's a reflection of on how corrupted our society has become, but with these stories can be told. Hope, it's the only thing stronger than fear. People come and read stories to escape reality. But who ever said that this was a story? -- "Sweetie,” a voice calls softly, "Sydney sweetie." The voice was calling out to a blonde teenage girl, who was lying down on a field unconscious. She slowly awakens from her slumber, but her eyes refuse to open any wider. Barely able to move, she sits up to try to see who was talking to her. "You're okay now, I promise..." It was the voice again. She opens her eyes wide open, but all she could see was the horizon over the green meadow where she laid. Whoever was calling out to her was no longer there. All of a sudden, her head started to hurt. It was starting to hurt really badly and before she knows it, she falls asleep, unconsious once again. A door slam awakens the fragile teenage girl. She finds herself sleeping in a white bed in what appears to be a small wooden cabin. She tries to get up but it causes her head to sting so she lays back down. "Oh, you're awake!" A lady, who looked as if she was in her late 40s, walks into the room with a tray of cookies. "How do you feel, Sydney?" the lady asks her. "Sydney...?" Was that her name? She couldn't remember, and trying to remember just hurt her head. The lady raises her left eyebrow at the girl, whose name was supposedly Sydney. She walks towards Sydney and feels her forehead for her temperature. "Goodness me, you're burning up! Get some more rest; you can eat the cookies later." Sydney shakes her head, refusing to go back to sleep, "I'm fine." The lady sits down on the seat that was beside Sydney’s bed, smiling at her. After a long silence, Sydney breaks it. "Um, who are you?" and quietly says to herself, "And who am I?" The lady laughs and playfully slaps Sydney's leg. "Who am I? Is this another one of your games? I’m the person that has been raising you for your entire life." The lady’s words just echo in Sydney’s mind, it was all too much for her brain to process. "You call me mum, but most people know me as Victoria Frost." It was all too much for Sydney to handle. She couldn't remember anything of her past or herself even. The only thing she remembered was her strange encounter at the green meadow, but even that she couldn't really tell if it was just a dream. Sydney snaps out of her daze and faces Victoria. "I, I don't... remember. I'm sorry." Victoria looks at Sydney and the look on her face convinces Victoria that she was telling the truth. She presses her hand over the teen's blonde silky hair, rubbing it. "Don't be sorry." Victoria sits down next to her on the bed. "Sydney, you were missing for a whole month. I woke up this morning and you were in bed asleep. Where were you? Do you remember?" she asks. Sydney was shocked, where could she have gone? She didn't even know her own name up until 5 minutes ago. "Sorry, I seriously, don't know... or remember anything." Suddenly, there was a knock on the cabin door. The door opens and two boys enter the cabin. The taller of the two wore a black hoodie and hangs it on the clothing rack next to the door, while the other enters with his jacket intact. It had been raining outside so their clothes were soaking wet. Victoria sighs of relief; she was scared there was a stranger breaking into the cabin. "Oh, it's just you two." She dries the two off with white towels. Sydney looks at the two boys and then back at Victoria. "Who are they?" Sydney begins to feel frightened after noticing the taller boy staring at her coldly. The younger boy smiles and places flowers on the table next to Sydney. "Welcome back, Syd! Where have ya been?" he asks in enthusiasm. Frightened, she quickly jumps back when he tries to touch her shoulder. Still smiling, the boy laughs. "What's with you?" he asks, "you seem jumpy today. Did wherever you go give you a major transformation or some crap?" The older boy drags him back and whispers something into his ears. Victoria rolls her eyes and laughs, "That's Alex, she points at the younger and slightly shorter boy, "And the other boy is Tony. Alex and Tony Blackthorne, they're brothers." Sydney looks at the two boys again, Alex and Tony. Victoria stands back up and tells the two boys to meet with her outside. "We need to talk..." They shut the door behind them and makes sure that Sydney couldn't hear them. Victoria whispers to them softly, "She says she doesn't remember anything, poor girl didn't even know her own name. She's being serious this time, I can tell." Alex looks at her in shock. "She can't… remember? Will she ever remember?" Tony lets out a big sigh, "I think the bigger question is, does she remember what happened that night?" Victoria shakes her head at Tony, pressing her finger on his lip to signal him not to say anything to her. "We don't mention it to her. At least, not now anyway.” The three re-open the door and the two boys properly introduce themselves to Sydney. As they begin to talk and get to know each other, she slowly opens up to them. But Tony remains quiet throughout the conversation; he didn’t want to say anything and just allowed his younger brother to do all the talking. "Okay, so this is your room. Me and Tony sleep right across from your room and your mum is down the hall. Remember that, alright?" explains Alex. "You're living on an island town, called Ravenled." Hearing this, she looks outside the window. It was dark and rain was pouring, she couldn't see much. Pointing at Victoria, "Is she my actual mother?" "I guess you can say that. You're adopted, Sydney." Tony puts his hand on Alex's shoulder, "That's enough information for today, Alex." Alex nods and allows her to rest. She was no longer afraid of the two, though remained cautious when close to Tony. That night, Sydney wakes up during the middle of the night as she couldn't sleep. Not knowing or remembering anything had her mind racing and she hadn't stepped out of the bed since her ‘mum’ found her, so she decides to look around the wooden cabin, which was being heated by a fireplace in the loungeroom. Slowly and carefully, she opens the door and closes it softly so she doesn't wake up everyone else in the house. As she walks into the lounge room, she looks around at all the framed photos. There was a photo of her next to a middle-aged man wearing a black suit. Another had a picture of her in a blue dress, next to another girl around the same height but with black hair in a pink dress. As she looks through the photos, she notices a newspaper on the kitchen table. Wanting to know more about the town she is living in, she quickly snatches the newspaper and heads back into her room to read it. The paper was called "Ravenled Times". She skims through the newspaper and an article catches her eye: Ravenled Times - March 23, 2011 Sydney Lavender spotted back at the Frost Residence After Disappearance Sydney Lavender, the adoptive daughter of George and Victoria Frost was reportedly spotted back at home after disappearing for a whole month. Mrs. Frost has refused to give a comment on the disappearance but has requested the public give her family some privacy while they deal with Sydney and the situation. Her return has sparked much public opinion as she was believed to be dead and on whether she had any information on the murder of her father, George Frost, on the same day she disappeared. "Jack Frost?" she says to herself. She looks at the photo that was on the article and recognised it as the same man in the framed photo with her. She continues to read the newspaper article: Ravenled’s finest mayor, George Frost, was murdered on February 27, 2011. He was found dead in the bedroom of his house at approx. 7:55AM when an anonymous call tipped police off of the dead body. His wife, Victoria, appeared to be very distraught after losing both her daughter and husband on the same day. If anyone has any information, Ravenled Police urge everyone to contact them as soon as possible. She stops reading and quickly hides the newspaper under her bed to continue reading the next day. That night, she has vivid nightmares which causes her to cry out during her sleep. Someone, with bruises and scars all over their arm, screams out. "You know I have to do this!" A man lays on the bed and sweat drips down from his head. Sydney can't see on who it is, it's too dark. The bruised person slowly holds up the knife and stabs the man. He lets out a loud growl. The person pulls out the knife, and blood drips from the blade. Moonlight illumanates the room and the man the person just stabbed's face is clear. It was George. Sydney's father. Sydney wakes up in a shock, panting. She gets off her bed and walks outside into the kitchen. "Oh, you're up already?" asks Victoria, who was cooking breakfast. "Yep." She turns around to see both Tony and Alex watching TV in the lounge room. "Um, Victoria..." Victoria stops frying and turns around with a huge smile. "Call me mum." Sydney fakes a smile back, "Mum, uh... I still don't get any of this. I'm so confused..." Tears start falling down her cheeks, she was at breaking point. Victoria walks over to her and gives her a hug of reassurance, "Don't worry, you’ll remember soon. I promise." She looks over at the two boys sitting on the couch. "Hey, you two. Take her out around town. I’m sure everyone’s dying to see her again." Tony exclaims, "I'm sure most people just want her dead." "Don't you dare say that!" Victoria growls. Tony returns his concentration back onto the TV show he was watching. Alex, on the other hand, was more eager to take Sydney out and quickly jumps on the opportunity to be with her. "I'll go!" He quickly grabs his brown jacket from the coat hanger and shows her the way out. Outside, Sydney stops for a moment to look at the place around her. The cabin they lived in was wooden, as she expected and was surrounded by huge trees, probably in a forest filled with wildlife. "So, this is Ravenled..." she mutters to herself. ”Ravenled Forest." Alex points at the cabin. "Our cabin’s the only one that is located in this forest." Alex thinks for a moment, "Ah!" he yells out. "Maybe this person will help you jog your memory!" He grabs her arm and takes her towards the main road, where no trees were in sight. They arrive at what appears to be a huge mansion, with a golden gate in front that could only be opened on the inside. "Christine, it's me!!" he shouts out into the mansion. After a few seconds, the gate opens automatically. As Sydney walks into the huge complex with Alex, she gasps at the sight. "Wow, this place is huge!" Alex faces her and smirks, "You haven't seen nothin' yet." Once they're at the front door, Sydney takes off her shoes. Alex raises his eyebrows. "What are you doing?" "Taking off my shoes...?" she retorts. He giggles. "What is this, the 90s? You can leave them on. They have maids here cleaning for a reason." Walking inside, the maids align themselves, directing the two upstairs while bowing to salute them. The two walk upstairs and stand in front of a huge pink door. Alex opens the door and walks inside while telling Sydney to come inside with him. Sydney clings onto his jacket and then suddenly stops him from moving any further. "Wait..." she whispers to him. "Who is she? Did I know her?" Alex puts both of his hands onto her shoulder and gives her a smile, "A lot more than just know her. You two were the best of friends." After hearing this, she feels more relaxed about meeting this girl and enters Christine's room. Once the two make it inside, one of the house maids stop them. "Names please." the maid demands. "What the, it's Alex. Alex Blackthorne" he says, with his left eyebrow raised. The maid looks at Sydney, "and this young lady here?" Sydney stands tall and introduces herself, "I'm Sydney Lavender, and I’m new around here." The maid gives her a strange look, but then dismisses the two and allows them to meet Christine. “That’s weird; I never had to give anyone a name to go see Christine before.” "Wow, took you guys a while to get here" says a high pitched female voice. The chair in front of them spins around to face Alex and Sydney, it was Christine. "Sydney!" she yells out, "You're back!" Christine runs and jumps onto Sydney to give her a big hug. 'Where have you been!?" she asks, "I thought you were dea-" Alex gives her a look, signaling her to stop talking. "She doesn't remember anything, Christine. She lost her memory." Christine tightens the grip in the hug, "Don't worry Sydney, I'll make sure you remember!" Sydney lets out a soft laugh, while trying to break the hug between her and Christine. Sydney notices a huge framed photo of her and Christine on her wall, one where they both wore huge dresses. It was the same photo she had seen back at home. “That was our prom dress,” Christine tells her, “we look so cute!” Alex walks up to Christine, “Who was that maid? She new? We had to give our names before we came in.” Christine thinks for a moment. “Oh, you mean Michelle? She’s our new maid. Apparently she’s close with my dad or something, so she works close to my room.” Christine looks back at Sydney, smiling, “We have so much catching up to do. Ever since you left things just... haven’t been the same.” Her smile quickly turns into a frown. Sydney tries to tighten the bond with her old best friend by trying to act as if they were friends. “Hey, I'm back. You have me now.” Christine begins to get teary and reaches her arm out to hug Sydney again, “When you were here, we were something. We were the Ravenled's two most popular girls. But when you left, it all fell through. No one cared about me, I was lost.” She cries even more after letting out her worries. Alex joins two girls, hugging them both. "I missed us together.' -- Slowly pulling out the piece of metal that was clogging a pipe, 26 year old Jeremy shrieks in relief that his task was over. “I’m done!” he yells out. An old lady, looking like she was close to 80, slowly walks into the room Jeremy was working in with her cane. “Not bad, not bad. But you can do better! No pay today!” she screams out, pointing her cane at his forehead. Jeremy cries. “C’mon, Ms. Lake! I’ve been doing house chores for the entire week now and every single time you haven’t paid me anything. You know how hard it is working as a plumber!?” The old lady whacks him with her cane, “You sleep and eat here free of charge, stop acting like a child." The old lady was Rose Lake, a 78 year old woman who lived with Jeremy Sovereign, a young adult who worked as a plumber. Rose was a respected elder of the Ravenled council and the police department usually goes to her for any big decisions regarding the town. Her and Jeremy had a messy relationship, but deep down they both cared greatly for each other. Jeremy walks back into his bedroom, dropping his toolbox on his bed. Working hours without end daily with little pay, his career stressed him out a lot. However, he was passionate about one thing – and that was inventing. He picks up a metal pendant from under his pillow and looks at it. "Now, if only I could open you up..." He plays around with it and eventually is able to take it apart. It was empty, it was just what it appeared to be - a metal pendant. "And here I was thinking I found something cool." He drops it in the rubbish bin next to his computer desk and sits down reading a book called "Kin" - a childrens fairytale of a female ghost who had a boyfriend that betrayed her. He was also passionate about reading and loved paranormal stories. “So Ms. Lake, have they said anything about the whole Sydney disappearance incident to you?” Rose glares at him, with her spoon still in her mouth. The two were eating breakfast in the dining room, this was their usual routine every day. “Look,” she says, picking up her bowl of soup, “just because I’m old doesn’t mean I know everything. Quite frankly I’ve had enough of this whole town pestering me over stupid decisions about everything.” Frustrated, she cleans herself up and returns back into the rocking chair that sat in front of the house to calm herself down. Jeremy says to himself, “I was only asking…” and continues eating the soup she made for him. -- "I know you know something, now tell me. Where were you that night?" Sydney was sitting on her bed and a tall man with short spiky hair stood next to her, scolding her. "I already told you, I don't remember!" she screams out. Victoria opens the door and heads into the room, "That's enough. With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, interogating a person who knows nothing is against the law and I'll have you know that I will take action on you if you continue to threaten my daughter." She opens the door and escorts him out. "And do not forget on who my husband was." The man quickly glances at Sydney, and then walks out of the house. Victoria sighs of relief. "Are you okay? Did he scare you?" she asks. Sydney shakes her head, "I'm fine. But who was he?" "He's the almighty mayor of Ravenled. Chanh Henderson." she replies sarcastically. "And my dad...." Sydney says, trembling. "Was he the previous mayor?" Victoria's eyes widen. "How did you know?" Sydney looks under her bed and holds up the newspaper she found the night earlier. "I'm keeping updated." Sydney then changes the subject, "Why aren't you telling me everything about my life? Is there something I should know?" Victoria sits down next to Sydney on her bed, caressing her face. "You know, you weren't that most liked in this town. You had a... very distinct personality." Sydney is surprised to hear this, but doesn't say anything. "When you disappeared, your father... he was murdered." This didn't come as much of a surprise to Sydney as she already knew about this, but hearing it from Victoria made it all the more worse. "And I'm guessing people think I did it." Sydney exclaims. Victoria nods, trying to avoid Sydney's eyes. To avoid the awkward tension in the room, Sydney focuses the conversation on something else to lighten up the mood. "So, how about those cookies you made for me yesterday?" Victoria smiles, and leaves the room to make cookies for her. The next day, Sydney heads off to Christine's place as she promised her that they would go shopping together like old times. Using the mobile phone she owned before she went missing, she gets directions to Christine's mansion. Arriving in front of the mansion, she hears a car drive up from behind her. It wasn't just a car though - it was a limo. The backseat window goes down to reveal Christine's face. "Hey, Sydney!" Sydney smiles. "Not too bad." She opens the car door and hops onto the limo with Christine. The two don't say much on the way to the mall. "Will you ever get your old memory back?" Christine asks. Sydney shrugs. "Maybe. I wish..." At the mall, the two walk around, ignoring the whispers by the people walking pass them. After a while, the whispering and gossiping by people starts to annoy Christine and she walks up to a young boy taking photos of them. "Hey, you there." she says, snatching the boy's camera off him. As she looks through the photos, deleting them, she yells out, "Why are you taking photos of me and my friend!? You some kind of stalker?" "Psh." He quickly takes the camera back. "Taking a photo of crazy here with Miss. Murderer over there. The tabloid will love these pictures when I sell it to them." The boy spits on her face, and runs off with the camera. Christine stamps on the ground, but doesn't bother to chase him. She walks back to Sydney. "Come on" she says, dragging Sydney to another store. As they enter a clothing store, Christine looks through the clothing and allows Sydney to look around herself and pick out on whatever she liked. As Christine looks through the gloves area and takes an interest in a black glove, Sydney notices someone spying on them in a far distance in another area of the store. She squints her eye to try and get a better look, and finally recognises on who it is. It was the maid from Christine's mansion, Michelle. Sydney's phone lights up as she receives a text message. Opening the message from a blocked number, it reads, "Someone in this room is capable of murder. Can you guess who? -A" '' After reading this text message, her brain starts to hurt. She was remembering something. ''It was a dark, on a full moon night."This is getting out of control." Michelle says, sitting on a swing in the park."If you don't get him, than I will." Sydney turns around to face her. "Than let's make this a game. First to kill wins." She winks at Michelle, who smiles back at her. Michelle stands up in front of Sydney. "I can assure you Syd. Once I'm done with him, you're next." Still smiling, Sydney thrusts her entire body at Michelle while screaming. The two girls roll on the ground on top of eachother, pulling eachother's hair out. Stunned, she looks back up at Michelle, but she was gone. Sydney quickly looks around the store to try and find her, but she wasn't there anymore. She must have left while Sydney was reading the text. Christine notices Sydney looking pale and rushes to her side. "Are you okay?" she asks her. Slowly coming out of her daze, she lets out a feint smile. "Uh yeah, I'm fine... but can we go home, please? I'm not feeling too well." Christine has her driver drive Sydney home and the two call it a day. As Sydney opens the door into her own house, she finds the house empty. "Is anybody home?" she calls out. No one answers. She enters her room, and slowly starts taking off her clothes to change them. Just as she's about to take off her pants, she hears a sound from the kitchen. She freezes. Her phone then vibrates again, she got another text message. "Syd, I don't blame you for not telling them our little secret about Michelle. The truth can be dangerous - and you don't want anyone getting hurt, do you? -A" After reading this, she quickly runs outside her room and gasps loudly as the frontdoor was open. Someone was in the house. As she takes out her phone to call Victoria, she hears a familiar voice behind her. "What are you doing?" She turns around to the direction of the voice, it was Tony. He was standing infront of his bedroom door. "And why are you standing there half-naked?" Looking down at her body, her face turns red and she rushes back into her room, slamming the door behind her. She presses her back on the door, breathing heavily. She was scared. For a moment she just stands there, holding her phone with the text message still open. She decides not to call Victoria to not worry her. She gulps and puts her clothes back on. Opening her bedroom door, she knocks on the door across her - Tony's room. "Just come in" he says. As she opens the door, he quickly says, "What is it that you want?" She takes a quick look around the room. There was a bunk bed in the corner, for both him and Alex. Books were scattered all around the room. Dirty clothing on top of his bed, red shirts, a shirt with a Pikachu on it, a hoodie, dirty socks, everything was on his bed. "Have you recovered from your naked mess?" he asks, rolling his eyes. Sydney takes a deep breath, "I-I need your help on something." He raises his eyebrows. "I think I might know who killed... my dad." Tony's eyes widen after hearing this, and quickly closes the door. He throws two phones that laid on the floor onto the bed to make space for Sydney to sit. She sits down at that spot, and he sits on his bed. "Okay, go on. Tell me." Sydney takes out her phone and opens the two text messages she received from '-A'. She passes Tony the phone. He takes a quick glace at it, "And?" She takes the phone back and opens up the first message she received. "The first message I received was when I was shopping. Michelle, one of Christine's new maids. She was spying on me when I received this text." "That doesn't mean anythi-" She quickly cuts him off. "That's when I remembered a conversation I had with Michelle. I, played a game with her. First to kill wins. She told me that she'll kill me next after she kills 'him'' '' He laughs. "More proof that you killed your own father." She hits his arm. "I'm serious." He rolls his eyes, "You're just a kid, Sydney." "I'm not a kid. And you're only older than me by a year." "Well, it doesn't matter. And going around telling people about your past conversation with Michelle isn't going to make people believe that you didn't kill Mr. Frost." Sydney doesn't say anything, she knows he's right. "And 'A'?" "It's probably a lame joke by one of your friends. A for Alex." he exclaims. "Now if you excuse me, I have better things to do than teach you about common sense." She sighs and leaves his room, still holding her phone. -- "Now, Ms. Lake. Hold still, you know this is important." A nurse holds up Rose's arm, she was getting her blood tested. "Why do I need to do this?" she growls. "I'm not even that old." The nurse fakes a smile, but doesn't say anything. After a few seconds, the machine beeps and the test is over. "See Ms. Lake, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Rose isn't happy, "Don't treat me like a child. I'm much older than you." and quickly stomps out of the room. Before she's completely out of sight, Rose turns around. "How's your little sister doing?" The nurse bites her lip, "The usual, I guess." She looks down at her toes, she was on the verge of tears. "Natasha." The nurse, Natasha, looks up at Rose. "Don't forget that there are people here for you. You aren't on your own, you know that right?" Natasha grins, "I know!" Rose looks back at the exit and walks out on her walking stick. -- That night, Sydney wakes up from her nap. She notices something in her trash can as it was overfilling. It was a confidential police document, with a sticky note attached to it; "YESTERDAY'S TRASH, TOMORROW'S NEWS -A" She opens the document from the folder to read it. As she skims through the document, she is shocked to find out that it was a document regarding George Frost's murder and that she was being investigated, being the number one suspect in their investigation. She quickly tears up the document with anger, before heading out into the lounge room to burn it at the fireplace. As she watches the document getting burned and slowly turning into ash, she gets another text message. It was blocked. "This bitch..." she says to herself, thinking it was 'A'. The message read: TURN AROUND. Sydney slowly turns around, expecting to come face to face with 'A'. All of a sudden, party poppers pop out of nowhere. A whole group of people scream out SURPRISE! as they all walk up to Sydney. "W-what's this!?" Sydney asks, in shock. "We never actually gave you a welcome back party, so here it is!" says Alex, wearing a party hat on his head. "How long were you sleeping for!?" asks Christine, moving in to give her a hug. Sydney doesn't hear Christine through all the noise. She looks around the room try and see if Michelle was there, if she was the one who put the police document in her trash can. She spots Alex, Christine, Victoria, a girl wearing a nurse outfit, a shorter girl sitting on a chair who looked tired, a girl wearing glasses reading a book, an old women, a young adult male trying to fix the lights down the hallway and to her surprise, the mayor, Chanh, was standing in between a man that looked a lot like Christine, and just the person she was looking for, Michelle. Before she can confront Michelle, Chanh walks up to Sydney, and she hesitates and steps back as he gets closer. "Ah, sorry." he says. "We got off on the wrong foot. You know how it is, I'm new to the job, I want to make sure I keep this town in order." He lifts up his hand to give Sydney a handshake. "Let's start over. I'm Chanh, and you?" She glares at him, but decides to shake his hand anyway despite her doubts. "I'm Sydney, but you probably already know that." She smirks back while shaking. A party popper goes off in the kitchen and Alex yells out, "It's time to party!" He turns on the music and she decides to use this time getting to know the people in the room. But first, she had something to do. She walks up to Michelle to confront her about their past together, but she is tapped on the shoulder by someone. Sydney turns around to face this person and sees that it was her mother. "You should get to know that lady in the nurse outfit over there. She'll be examining you tomorrow." As Victoria explains to Sydney about her schedule for tomorrow, Sydney tries not to take her eyes and focus off Michelle. But before the conversation is over, Michelle was gone. She left. "Crap." Sydney says to herself, pressing her teeth together. "Let's hope that you're okay though. Be up early tomorrow, alright?" Sydney returns her focus to Victoria. "Oh, yeah right. I will." Victoria smiles, "That's my girl." She leaves Sydney alone to interact with everyone else at the party. The first person Sydney walks up to is Christine, she wanted to ask her about the maid. "Christine!" she calls out to get her attention, who seemed to be concentrating on something in the kitchen cupboard. Christine, holding a glass of champagne, faces her. "The maid of honor! What can I do for you?" She says while laughing. "Speaking of maids, do you know anything about that maid that works outside your bedroom? What was her name... Michelle or something?" Sydney asks. "Oh, the one that asked for your names the other day? She quit last night. I don't know why though. Why?" Christine looks confused, she didn't know on why Sydney was asking her this question. "Just wondering." Sydney fakes a laugh to reassure her that everything was fine. At this point, Sydney was scared. Michelle murdered her own father and had devised a plan to put the blame on her. "Actually, can we talk? In private?" Christine notices the worried look on Sydney's face and nods her head, and the two walk into Sydney's room. As the two walk in, they are surprised to find both Tony and Alex in there, looking through Sydney's stuff. "What are you doing?" Sydney asks, rushing towards her cupboard to see on what they were touching. "W-we were, uh..." Alex stumbles, he didn't know what to say. Tony blurts out. "We were looking for something." Alex looks at Tony and he rolls his eyes back at him. "Alex got this message." Tony tosses Alex's mobile phone at Sydney and she catches it, reading on what was on the screen. 'I just want you to know that it was Tony's idea to look in your ro-" Sydney raises her hand to cut Alex off. She couldn't believe on what she was reading on his phone. "Breaking news. Sydney Lavender is now a person of interest in George's death. -A" and attached was a photo of the police document that Sydney burnt earlier. "Where did you put the document? Give it to me." Tony demands. Sydney turns to look at Christine, who had no idea on what was happening. "I destroyed it." Sydney replies, trying to look composed. "Why? Because you murdered him?" "Tony..." Alex says quietly. "Because you murdered your own father, you decided to cover up the evidence!?" She froze. She couldn't believe on what was happening. Then all of a sudden, she was remembering something. Something that happened that night of her father's murder. Sydney, with bruises and scars all over their arm, screams out. "You know I have to do this!" George lays on the bed and sweat drips down from his head. '' ''"If you do this, you'll regret it." he yells out. Sydney slowly holds up the knife and stabs the man on his arm. He lets out a loud growl. Sydney pulls out the knife, and blood drips down from the blade. She stabs him again, this time on his leg. George coughs out blood and it splatters all over Sydney's face. She just smiles. "Regretting this is worth it." '' Sydney remembered everything. She was the one who killed Michelle. 'A' was giving her a message. Not that Michelle killed him, but she did. The person who won the game with Michelle was herself, Sydney. At this realization, Sydney drops down onto the floor. Tears start rolling down her cheeks and she begins to have problems breathing properly. Alex and Christine quickly rush to her side to comfort her. "What happened!?" asks Christine. Alex starts to shake her. "She just collapsed, I don't know why." "I-I... I killed him." Christine's eyes widen, she stands back away from Sydney. Alex looks over at Tony, who was in just as big of a shock as the rest of them were. His hands were in his pocket, he remained standing where he was. Still crying, she gets another text message. She opens up her phone to read on what it was: "''Dear Syd, thanks for getting rid of him for me. You were always my favorite killer! Sincerely, your best friend, -A" Sydney smashes the phone onto the floor and covers her face, sobbing still. And all at the same time, Tony's, Alex's and Christine's phone vibrates too. They all got a text message. They turn their phones on and read outloud on what it was. "Better watch your back...or you'll be a dead bitch too. Game on, bitches. -A" Lightning strikes the wooden cabin and the electricity goes out, causing people at the party to scream. This was no night for fun and games. Cast Members *Britt Robertson as Sydney Lavender *Tony Nguyen as Tony Blackthorne *Alex Ham as Alex Blackthorne *Rose Harnwell as Rose Lake http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950543260/character-changes *Jeremy Chai as Jeremy Sovereign *Christine Sanico as Christine Chamberlin *Victoria James as Victoria Frost *George Hosking as George Frost (flashbacks only) *Michelle Kittikhoun as Michelle Lesley http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950543260/character-changes *Vivian Tran as Vivian Rosenthal http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950543260/character-changes *Chanh Tran as Chanh Henderson *Nathalie Phon as Nathalie Henderson *Tim Le as Tim Henderson *Natasha Serdar as Natasha McValerie *Htet Zaw as Htet McValerie Development Writing for the chapter began June 23, 2012 and ended on June 27, 2012. As this is the first chapter of the book, preperation and planning of the story began weeks before writing had commenced. Title of actual story was previously Corruption, before changing into Sydney, then eventually Lavender. Release date and beginning of series was set to be July 1, 2012, however, was eventually changed to August 6, 2012 (before changing into the release date of August 12, 2012 and have the second chapter release a day after). ' Several name changes occured such as Jeremy Leakes was renamed to Jeremy Sovereign, Vivian Gold to Vivian Lake and the demotion of Miggy to recurring. However, the chapter was delayed once again and as of November 2012, the chapter has gone back into pre-writing and will be edited and extended. The chapter was then rewritten and worked in January, 2013 and is currently slated for a release in February, 2013. On February 1, 2013, the official release date for the chapter was announced, and the chapter will be released February 17, with the follow up chapter released a day later. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950807528/chapter-1-3-release-date-announced As of February 1, writing for the chapter is still incomplete and the writer hopes to be complete by release date. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950950826/lavender-writing-progress Three major cast changes were made, with new characters being added or changed - Rose Lake, Michelle Lesley and Vivian Rosenthal played by Rose Harenwell, Michelle Kittikhoun and Vivian Tran respectively. The writer confimed that the chapter will contain more than 4,500 words and that it'll be one of the series' longest. That is also 2,000 more words than the previously reported 2,500 words.. On February 10, the final draft for the chapter was officially complete and was ready for a prerelease, a whole week before the official release date. The final draft is approximately 6,500 words long. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/42715299096/wide-awake-final-draft-complete Critical Response The chapter will be released early to critics on February 10, 2013, a week before the release. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/42492166037/chapter-1-pre-release A teaser was released on January 24, 2013 to a selected few which showcased the beginning of the story as well as additional hints. The writer has said the theme of the teaser is "scary", with critics praising the teaser for "being too scary to even be watched" while others called it "too random and jumpy" at times. The voice actress was praised for its clarity and acting. The teaser was intended to be released to the public a week prior to the chapter release, however plans for the teaser were shelved due to mix reviews.http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41951497207/teaser-release-cancelled Secrets/Mysteries 'A' Messages Sent to Sydney Someone in this room is capable of murder. Can you guess who? -A Syd, I don't blame you for not telling them our little secret about Michelle. The truth can be dangerous - and you don't want anyone getting hurt, do you? -A YESTERDAY'S TRASH, TOMORROW'S NEWS -A Dear Syd, thanks for getting rid of him for me. You were always my favorite killer! Sincerely, your best friend, -A Sent to Alex Breaking news. Sydney Lavender is now a person of interest in George's death. -A Sent to Sydney, Alex, Tony and Christine Better watch your back...or you'll be a dead bitch too. Game on, bitches. -A Notes/Trivia *The title refers to Sydney awakening at Ravenled and not knowing who or where she is. *This is the very first chapter of Lavender and is the setting stone for the rest of the series. *The chapter is the longest chapter currently, with an approx of 6,500 words. *The 2012 draft of Wide Awake only contained 2,500 words as opposed to the 6,500. *Vivian Rosenthal was a character added during the 2013 rewrite. *The teaser video showcased the first few minutes of the episode, as well as the vision Sydney had. *The release date was originally July 1, then eventually August 6, then August 12 before eventually being taken off a 2012 schedule. The fourth and final release date is currently set for February 17, 2013. http://readlavender.tumblr.com/post/41950807528/chapter-1-3-release-date-announced Memorable Quotes Unknown Voice Sydney: Sweetie. You're okay now, I promise. Victoria Frost Sydney: '''Who am I? Is this another one of your games? '''Tony Sydney: I'm sure most people just want her dead. Christine at prom photos: We look so cute! Rose Jeremy: You sleep and eat here free of charge, stop acting like a child. Tony: You're just a kid, Sydney. Rose Natasha: I'm not even that old. Chanh Sydney: Let's start over. I'm Chanh, and you? References Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes Category:Specials